


Okton

by mfingenius



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Auguste (Captive Prince) Lives, Don't copy to another site, Gen, Pre-Relationship, The Okton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:54:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24396868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mfingenius/pseuds/mfingenius
Summary: “See?” Laurent asks, looking much too pleased with himself. “I did not die.”His shoulder is bandaged tightly, and his face is still dirty and bloody. He is, however, very much alive.“You are unbelievable.” Auguste has his face buried in his hands, sitting next to Laurent. “Unbelievable, Laurent.”Laurent looks pleased.
Relationships: Auguste & Damen (Captive Prince), Auguste & Laurent (Captive Prince), Damen & Laurent (Captive Prince)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 101





	Okton

“Absolutely not,” Auguste says. Damen has never heard his friend sound so serious. “Laurent is fifteen.”

“He is a good rider,” Auguste’s Uncle observes; he is the perfect picture of innocence, with a hand on his nephew’s shoulder. Prince Laurent is growing more beautiful by the second, it seems; anytime Damen parts from the Veretians, he is certain Laurent’s beauty cannot grow. He’s proven wrong anytime they meet again.

Damen thinks in a few years, he might actually want to court Prince Laurent; he won’t be the only one - he has seen the way people look at him, and is aware that he’s had various suitors already - but he’s the only one who _knows_ him. Because of his friendship with Auguste, he’s been around Laurent more than almost anyone else - Laurent does not seem to let anyone other than Auguste close, and now Damen - and they’ve been getting closer lately.

“He _is_ good,” Damen points out to Auguste. “Better than the both of us.”

Laurent smiles, and that had been all Damen was looking for; he knows he doesn’t like him when Auguste treats him like a child, even if he _is_ much too young for the Okton.

Auguste looks back at Damen, and his stomach twists; he has never seen that expression in Auguste’s face, and it’s clear as day that it’s a warning.

“There are only four participants in the Okton,” Auguste says. “They have been chosen for months.”

It’s true; the Okton is part of the Summer Games, and the participants to every sport have been signed up with at least three months of advance. Auguste has participated in almost everything, as Damen has, and Laurent participated in riding, archery, and spear throwing. He won in all of them. 

“One of them had an unfortunate accident.” Auguste’s Uncle says. “He is incapacitated.”

Damen doesn’t understand exactly what is going on, but he knows Auguste doesn’t want Laurent to participate, and Auguste always wants to include Laurent in their activities, which makes him think he has a serious reason not to, so he says, “The Okton can be very dangerous, Laurent.”

He doesn’t know why Laurent’s and Auguste’s uncle seems intent on Laurent’s participation, but he wants Laurent to know that he does not have to participate if he does not want to.

Laurent looks up at him, and Damen is, once more, left breathless by his beauty.

“Did you not win your first Okton at sixteen?” He asks.

“Yes,” Damen says. “But I’m the youngest to have ever won an Okton.”

It’s clearly the wrong thing to say, because Laurent grins; how Damen could’ve forgotten Laurent’s competitive streak he doesn’t know.

“I bet I’ll beat you,” he says arrogantly.

Though not particularly broad-built, nor with much natural strength, Laurent is agile, an excellent rider, and a relentless opponent. He also has impressive aim. Damen has no doubt that he could win the Okton.

“Laurent, you are-”

A servant rings the bell, signaling five minutes from the start of the Okton; outside, people are cheering and yelling excitedly, Akielon and Veretian alike.

“I should be leaving.” Auguste’s uncle leaves without another word, and Laurent goes to tend to his mare, a few paces away.

“He’ll be alright,” Damen tries to reassure Auguste. “He is an excellent rider Auguste.”

“I know he is,” Auguste says, looking at Damen. “That is not what worries me. My Uncle - if he wants Laurent in the Okton, he has a plan. I need to - can Laurent get out now?”

Damen hesitates, then shakes his head. After the bell rings to signal five minutes from the beginning, none of the contestants are allowed to back out unless they’re nearly dying; contestants tend to get nervous before the Okton, and, to keep them from the embarrassment of backing out, the option is taken away from them.

Not even Damen could order that the guards let Laurent go; the order would have to come from Theomedes, and he’s not going to do that.

Auguste nods grimly. “I thought so. Who’s the other participant?”

“Kastor.” 

Auguste looks back at Kastor - his horse beside Laurent’s - and then nods again.

“A favor, Damen?”

“Of course,” Damen says.

“Keep an eye on Laurent.”

*

Damen, with Auguste’s warnings, is not entirely concentrated in the Okton; that is not good. He does not want to end up hitting Laurent with a spear because he was trying to protect him.

It happens in a flash; Laurent’s mare is fine, one moment, and the next she is neighing high and standing on her hind legs.

“Laurent!”

Laurent, as good as he is, has not fallen off, but it is only a moment before the mare falls backwards, and then Laurent will be crushed.

Auguste might not be as good a rider as Laurent is - no one could ever be - but he is better than average, and he and his horse jump in front of Damen - who has to stop his horse - to get closer to his brother.

In what seems to be an almost impossible feat, Laurent manages to launch himself to the side, towards Auguste; a flash of gold, and then Laurent is falling, and Auguste catches him, which sends them both falling to the ground.

“ _Hold!”_ Theomedes yells in a booming voice. Everyone has stopped cheering and has instead begun whispering, and Damen practically jumps off his horse, running to Laurent and Auguste.

“Laurent? Laurent!” Auguste pushes a frighteningly pale Laurent off him, and the first thing Damen sees is blood.

“I’m fine, brother,” Laurent says, jaw clenched. “I won’t die.”

The spear stuck through his shoulder suggests otherwise.

“A physician!” Damen orders the guards. “Now!”

*

“See?” Laurent asks, looking much too pleased with himself. “I did not die.”

His shoulder is bandaged tightly, and his face is still dirty and bloody. He is, however, very much alive.

“You are unbelievable.” Auguste has his face buried in his hands, sitting next to Laurent. “ _Unbelievable,_ Laurent.”

Laurent looks pleased.

“I am sorry,” Damen says sincerely. Kastor swears it was an accident. Though Kastor doesn’t have perfect aim, Damen knows he doesn’t have bad enough aim to be aiming for the targets and hit Laurent instead. “What has the physician said?”

“I’ll make a full recovery,” Laurent says, waving it away and then looking like he sorely regrets the action, face going death-white. 

“Stay _still_ ,” Auguste says, exasperated.

“Did I win, Damianos?” Laurent asks, instead of listening to his brother. “Did I win our bet?”

“I cannot honestly believe this is what you’re worried about,” Damen says, shaking his head. “Because it was not finished, it will be played again tomorrow. _Without you_.”

Laurent pouts. “Were you this threatened by me?”

Damen shakes his head disbelievingly but grins. “You will be a menace, one day, Prince Laurent.”

“He already is,” Auguste says heavily, muffled from how his face is pressed flatly into the bedding.

Damen and Laurent laugh at his exasperation.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr @mfingenius :D I hope you enjoyed reading!


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